Differentiated Teaching as a Key Principle in an Inclusive Pedagogy Approach

Author(s):

Susan Tetler(presenting / submitting)Christian Quvang(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2014

Network:

04. Inclusive Education

Format:

Paper

Session Information

04 SES 04 A, Research into Participation in Education

Paper Session

Time:

2014-09-03

09:00-10:30

Room:

B013 Anfiteatro

Chair:

Elisabetta Ghedin

Contribution

Research questions, objectives and theoretical framework

Drawing upon a research project for the Danish Ministry of Education this paper will present and discuss ways of understanding differentiation as a basic pedagogical principle for teaching, close related to the agenda of inclusion and hence an important part of teacher competencies in todays and future teaching.

The paper reports on findings from the study conducted in collaboration between Aarhus University (Department of Education) and three university colleges (University College Copenhagen, University College South Denmark and University College VIA). The study is initiated and financed by the Danish Ministry of Education and was conducted from January 2013 until January 2014. In all, 14 researchers and six teachers took part in the project.

The outset of the study, seen from the perspective of the Ministry of Education, is the challenge for schools to transform the principle of differentiated teaching into the schools’ everyday practice. A study from The Danish Evaluation Institute (EVA 2011) shows that teachers perceive the principle very difficult to get along with in their teaching practices. They express a quite narrow understanding of the principle, as they talk about differentiated teaching as individualized teaching and as a way to organize teaching in tiered groups (actually a kind of student differentiation). Put in other words, they primarily see it as a method they can use, when they have ‘enough hands’ in their classrooms. Thus, the challenge is to make this principle as a basic and sustainable part of the learning culture in schools.

Therefore, the objectives set from the Ministry of Education, was to initiate a project in which ‘exemplary teaching courses in the two main subjects (Danish and Math) in 5. Grade classes’ were planned, implemented and evaluated in order to study processes (barriers and opportunities) when transforming the principle of differentiated teaching into practice.

Another objective set from the Ministry of Education, was that the focal point for this project should be on the learning possibilities for pupils in learning difficulties in order to support the Danish agenda of inclusive education; learning difficulties related to the three most common school problem categories which are reading difficulties, attention difficulties and learning difficulties in general. The underlying assumption of the project is that these school problems are situated and that the reasons for these are to be found in the learning environment and hence not just inherent the individual pupil.

Thus, the objective of the project is triple:

To put the principle of differentiated teaching into practice.
To link the principle to point-driven teaching in main school subjects such as Danish and Math.
To study hindering and promoting processes for learning outcomes and ways of participation, when it comes to pupils in need for specific attention and additional support.

Summing up, a more general focus of this project is how teachers facilitate inclusive learning environments and hence create optimal possibilities for participation for all their pupils. A more specific focus is how to install a clear and transparent connection between activities in teaching practice and pupils’ diverse ways of learning. With the principle of differentiated teaching, pupils' diversity is emphasized within the framework of the class community.

Hence, it is important for teachers to plan, teach and evaluate activities, having both the learning community and the individual pupil in mind. Cooperation with the pupils on aims, objectives and academic points in the lessons is at the core of this project and its understanding of differentiated teaching.

Method

Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources Used The project is organized as a research-based intervention for four grade 5th classes in three schools - and it consisted of four phases: 1) the development phase (constructing a common planning model for differentiated teaching - and based on the dimensions and key elements of the model developing a didactic design for three 5th grade courses in Danish and three 5th grade courses in Math), 2) the implementation phase of the six courses (observed by researchers), 3) the cross-sectional analysis phase (analyzing hindering and promoting processes for an approach of differentiated teaching practice, seen from the view of pupils in need for specific attention) and 4) the dissemination phase (writing research report and teacher’s guides, producing student material and films to highlight key findings and creating tools for teachers (e.g. planning model, observation tool and a guide for using the observation tool for planning purposes). All written material and films were posted for the Ministry of Education in December, and two conferences open for practitioners were held in Copenhagen and Aarhus in January 2014. Finally, a thematic website was made publicly available. To investigate and document the ‘new’ learning conditions for pupils in learning difficulties, a specific observation and registration research instrument was developed. This analytic tool is based on the presumption that a multifactorial perspective is necessary in order to analyze the pedagog-ical complexity in a differentiated teaching context. The observations focus on a range of learning situations in which various kinds of differentiated teaching occur (e.g. use of materials, grouping of pupils, sequencing of content, scaffolding strategies, peer support etc.). These learning situations are observed (and later on analyzed) seen from the perspective of pupils in learning difficulties. By using this observation instrument, teachers as well are given opportunities for facilitating observations, reflections and professional dialogues with the pupil, the parents and colleagues and in order to improve their teaching practice. Part of the project was also an interest in studying the involved teachers' reflections and experiences of transforming the principle of differentiated teaching into practice. In order to follow their reflections and changing understandings, a semi-structured interview was conducted with each of them, both before and after their teaching courses in Danish and Math.

Expected Outcomes

Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or Findings With the project model for differentiation we have tried to capture the dynamic and reciprocal relationship between teacher scaffolding and student participation opportunities in classroom activities. It is our hope that the model's three dimensions and the key concepts and didactic ele-ments emerge as a fundamental starting point and framework for grounding a differentiated teaching approach within the culture of learning in schools. Furthermore this project supports and documents that learning difficulties can be reduced and even minimized when a differentiated teaching approach is used in mainstream classrooms, and it shows that “differentiated teaching and instruction is not necessarily ‘rocket science’”, as one of the participating teachers expressed his experiences in the final interview. With a public website for the project, the ambition is to inspire practitioners to create new understandings of the principle in practice and to encourage them to take action in meeting the wide range of learning styles, experiences, interests and needs that pupils today show up in schools. Summing up, the pedagogical challenge to prevent and overcome learning difficulties and to facilitate academic skills the approach of differentiated teaching seems to create paths for participation for pupils and possibilities for them to be active in their learning communities.

References

References: Alenkær, Rasmus (red.) (2008). Den inkluderende skole. En grundbog. Forlaget Frydenlund. Booth, Tony & Mel Ainscow (2002). Index for Inclusion. Centre for Studies on Inclusive Education (CSIE). Dyson, Alan (1999). Inclusion and inclusions: theories and discourses in inclusive education. In: Daniels, Harry and Philip Garner (eds.), World Yearbook of Education 1999 – Inclusive Education. London: Kogan page. Eisner, Elliott W. (1975). Instructional and expressive educational objectives. The formulation and use in curriculum. In: Popham, W. S. (ed.), Educational evaluation. Englewood Cliffs, Prentice Hall. EVA (2011). Undervisningsdifferentiering som bærende pædagogisk princip. Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. EVA (2012). Fælles mål i folkeskolen. En undersøgelse af lærernes brug af Fælles Mål. Danmarks Evalueringsinstitut. Hansen, Jan Tønnes & Nielsen, Klaus (1999). Stilladsering - en pædagogisk metafor. KLIM. Hattie, John (2013). Synlig læring − for lærere. Dafolo. Hedegaard, Marianne (2006). Dobbeltbevægelsen i undervisningen − udviklende læring. I: Gorm Hansen og Annalisa Tams (red.), Almen didaktik. Relationer mellem undervisning og læring. Billesø & Baltzer. Kvale, Steinar (2002). En introduktion til det kvalitative forskningsinterview. Hans Reitzels Forlag. Mogensen, Arne (2011). Point-driven mathematics teaching. Studying and intervening in Danish classrooms. PhD thesis, RUC. Molbæk, Mette, Lotte Hedegaard-Sørensen & Christian Quvang (2014) Deltagelse og forskellighed - en grundbog om inklusion og specialpædagogik i lærerpraksis. I-bog. Systime. OECD (2008). Improving School Leadership. Volume 1. Policy and Practice. OECD Publishing (NJ3) Rabøl Hansen, Vagn, Robenhagen, Ole & Wahl Andersen, Michael (1998). Læreprocesser, potentialer og undervisningsdifferentiering. Danmarks Pædagogiske Institut. Rasmussen, Jens (2010). http://edu.au.dk/aktuelt/aktuelle-temaer/undervisningsdifferentiering/ Tetler, Susan, Dianne Ferguson, Kirsten Baltzer & Connie Boye (2011). Inkluderet i skolens læringsfællesskab? En fortløbende problemidentifikations- og problemløsningsstrategi. Dafolo. Tetler, Susan (2000). Den inkluderende skole – fra vision til virkelighed. København, Gyldendal. Tomlinson, Carol (2001). How to Differentiate Instruction in Mixed-Ability Classrooms. Pearson Merrill Prentice Hall. Website: www.Inklusionsudvikling.dk/uvd

Author Information

Susan Tetler (presenting / submitting)

Aarhus University

Christian Quvang (presenting)

University College South Denmark

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